As the light dims

As a schoolboy, I remember looking at my friends and seeing a fierce brightness in their eyes. It felt like they could see the world and all that lay before them. That brightness would almost always be accompanied by a radiant spirit and a wild imagination. With those friends, I would go on journeys of fancy, exploring the distant world in every corner of the playground.

As we grew, the laughs changed to mischievous grins, and we kept running, even if we no longer pursued the same toys. We’d cross paths every now and then as we explored the world, cheerily get into some fun, and then race on.

The brightness remained - still a flame, still reaching upward, fueled by ambition and achievement.

Till around middle age, when I started to see the change. A somewhat lower glow. A flame that did not jump quite that high, a slow retreat from the spark of the new.

We still have the light, we still burn bright, but the dimming has started. It’s not going to get brighter. The twilight is approaching.

Long before the fire dies, we’ll be tapping our way through the gloom, relying mostly on memory to guide us. We’ll be unable to see beyond our reach, only able to know what we touch, what is real and immediate.

For some of us, the blaze burned too bright and too strong, and will die out just as fast. For others, it will be a long, gradual darkening. A few will have cherished theirs, and it will accompany them till the end, even if as a small flicker.

We hope that we did our part to keep the fragile candle of humanity alive, to add our little spark to the flame, and to keep it burning just a little bit longer.